Medinteract

Dr. Monica Crane – Discusses Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. Monica Crane, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center and Cole Neuroscience Center discusses Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms and treatment options in a short video produce by UT Medical Center.

Sports Illustrated – Finding a Cure

Medinteract Co-founder, Dr. John Dougherty, was quoted in the article “Finding A Cure” by Alexander Wolf in the December 12, 2011 issue.

Excerpt  – “Early diagnosis is so important,” says Dr. John Dougherty, who runs the Memory Clinic at the University of Tennessee’s Cole Neuroscience Center. “The goal is prevention through delay. If we can delay symptoms by five years with medication and exercise, we can reduce the number of sufferers by six- to eight million—[about] the population of metropolitan Atlanta.”

View the full article

The cover featured: Sportsman Of The Year: Mike Krzyzewski / Sportswoman Of The Year: Pat Summitt

The two winningest coaches in Division I college basketball history (907 for him, 1,075 for her) have more in common than just extraordinary success. For reaching far beyond their campuses and refusing to be defined by their genders, SI honors them together.

What Is Mild Cognitive Impairment?

As diagnostic criteria for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) has become more widely embraced by the medical community, more and more patients are receiving a diagnosis and then asking the obvious question: what is it? This is generally followed by: does this mean I have (or will have) Alzheimer’s disease (AD)? Read More

Alzheimer’s ABC’s: Cognitive Changes II (Apathy, Delusion)

Cognitive Changes in AD: Apathy and Delusion

In the last post we considered the cognitive change of depression, and how it can affect those with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as well as some tips to help discern between pure depression and AD.

Today we’ll consider other cognitive change often seen along with AD – apathy and delusion.

Some AD patients develop frustration, agitation or combativeness, which can be extremely difficult to treat and manage (if you are a caregiver for an AD patient with these symptoms, you are all too aware of the strain this can create). Sometimes change in personality with agitated features can be an early manifestation of AD so pay close attention to this. Read More

Introduction to ALZselftest by Dr. Dougherty

As a neurologist of 25 years, I have specialized in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) for almost fifteen.  I currently follow over 2,000 AD patients in my practice and have personally experienced the immense toll that this disease takes on care givers. It was painful watching my own mother suffer with AD for more than 15 years.

When my mother was diagnosed our medical understanding of AD was very different, far more limited than what we know today. At the time (and still to a large extent today), physicians relied on a basic paper-based test called the Mini-Mental Status Evaluation (MMSE), to diagnose people with AD. The MMSE was developed over 30 years ago and has been shown to be less than 70% effective in diagnosing AD.

As our AD knowledge base expanded I began doing more research and in 2002, created the Self Test, an AD screening test which demonstrated 97% accuracy in clinical trials in differentiating between people with cognitive impairment or AD and otherwise healthy individuals. The success of the Self Test offered a much more effective means of screening for AD, but I was dismayed to know that 60% of people with AD are still going undiagnosed in a primary care setting.

There are many reasons for this, including a lack of sufficient health care coverage, difficulty getting primary care physicians to screen for AD before full onset of the disease, resistance by elders to be screened, and many others. This number is not only unacceptable, it is unnecessary. Read More

Give The Gift of Cognitive Health

I had a conversation last week with a trainer for a large Assisted Living Facility corporation. She has the daunting task of re-training the staff of all the facilities in that organization on their approach with residents. In particular, she is working to train them to understand that their approach has a great impact on whether a resident will comply or take part in activities geared towards stimulating their cognition.

We talked about how she struggles to help the staff understand that, while it may seem easier in the short run, doing tasks FOR the residents actually has a negative impact on them long term.  It may seem easier to just take a senior by the hand and lead them where they need to go, or to manage their time and take responsibility for when/where they need to be.  But doing this causes them to relinquish the responsibility and starts a slow process of atrophy in the cognitive domain associated with that task. Read More

"There's Nothing Wrong With Me!" Caring For Loved Ones Unaware Of Their Problem

Anosognosia is a term used to describe a person who is unaware of or denies the existence of their condition or problem. Some researchers estimate 20% of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients suffer from Anosognosia. My own research puts this estimate closer to 50%.

If you have a loved one suffering with Anosognosia you are probably very familiar with this concept, even if you didn’t know the medical term for it. AD patients with Anosognosia will argue with you if you point out deficits in memory or basic functioning. They tend to believe that they can function normally – still manage the finances, for example, when it is apparent to you that their cognitive deficits impair this ability. Read More

Is Forgetting The New Normal?